Edmund in NOLA

Monday, June 8, 2015

On June 1,
Charles, Bob and John celebrated the birthday of Edmund Rice with dinner at “Ignatius”
on Magazine Street.

On June 2 John
joined other members of the executive committee of the Burning Bush group that
supports programs working for a more peaceful city through Burning Bush members’
prayer, personal involvement and advocacy.This was the final meeting for John and Sr. Regina Petersen; she leaves
for Ethiopia this month.

On Thursday the
4th the Touro-Bouligny Neighborhood Association Meeting was held in
the Blessed Pauline Center.

Sr. Pauline O'Reilly CHF and Br. Charles

On Saturday,
June 6th the Sisters of Holy Faith celebrated Sr. Pauline O’Reilly’s
Golden Jubilee.The Congregation of
Sisters of the Holy Faith was founded in Waterford, Ireland by Margaret
Aylward.There were over 30 guests
celebrating Sr. Pauline’s 50 years of religious life.Her joyful spirit, commitment to the poor,
and gracious presence were celebrated by fellow religious, co-workers and friends.Sr. Pauline lives in community with Sr. Nancy
Hale whose brother Mike, and sister-in-law, Betsy attended; Sr. Pauline’s
family lives in Ireland.Sr. Pauline and
Sr. Nancy were joined by the two other Holy Faith Sisters, Sr. Maura O’Donovan and
Sr. Teresa Rooney, in renewing their vows.The joyous commitment of people who give their lives to God and the People
of God in a particular religious family and who have persevered is an
interesting phenomenon is our current individualistic age when promises are so
lightly broken if discomfort or suffering is entailed.One author wrote: “Integrity is keeping a
commitment even after circumstances have changed.”Certainly on Saturday, June 6, the Jubilee
was one of Joy on the Journey that Pauline, her Sisters and fellow religious
are embarked upon.

REFLECTION:A selection from the letter to all consecrated people on the Year of
Consecrated Life

APOSTOLIC LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS

POPE FRANCIS

TO
ALL CONSECRATED PEOPLE

ON THE OCCASION OF THE YEAR OF
CONSECRATED LIFE

II. EXPECTATIONS
FOR THE YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE

What in particular
do I expect from this Year of grace for consecrated life?

1.That
the old saying will always be true: “Where there are religious, there is joy”.
We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts to the brim
with happiness; that we need not seek our happiness elsewhere; that the
authentic sorority found in our communities increases our joy; and that our
total self -giving in service to the Church, to families and young people, to
the elderly and the poor, brings us life-long personal fulfilment.

None of us
should be dour, discontented and dissatisfied, for “a gloomy disciple is a disciple
of gloom”. Like everyone else, we have our troubles, our dark nights of the soul,
our disappointments and infirmities, our experience of slowing down as we grow older.
But in all these things we should be able to discover “perfect joy”. For it is
here that we learn to recognize the face of Christ, who became like us in all
things, and to rejoice in the knowledge that we are being conformed to him who,
out of love of us, did not refuse the sufferings of the cross.

In a society which exalts the cult of
efficiency, fitness and success, one which ignores the poor and dismisses
“losers”, we can witness by our lives to the truth of the words of Scripture:
“When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor12:10).

We can apply to the consecrated life the words
of Benedict XVI which I cited in the Apostolic Exhortation EvangeliiGaudium:
“It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but by attraction” (No. 14).
The consecrated life will not flourish as a result of brilliant vocation
programs, but because the young people we meet find us attractive, because they
see us as men and women who are happy! Similarly, the apostolic effectiveness
of consecrated life does not depend on the efficiency of its methods. It depends
on the eloquence of your lives, lives which radiate the joy and beauty of
living the Gospel and following Christ to the full.

From the Vatican, 21 November 2014,
Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Friday, May 29, 2015

The last days of May brought both
torrential rains with thunder and lightning and glorious days of sun and blue
skies to New Orleans; tourism is back so much that Cafe du Monde, famed for its
beignets, is expanding to handle the
crowds!Sadly violence still wracks the
city and bizarre stories abound.Just
today there was an article: “Central City melee leaves 1 injured, 2 arrested”
in the Times Picayune about a
neighborhood battle among adults, not
teenagers facing off with sticks and bats.The arrested were two
women, ages 51 and 24; the injured party was 34.No reason yet determined.It appears training for peaceful conflict
resolution is a priority.At the same
time, the city has celebrated a host of festivals, around food and music, which have gone off peacefully and
joyfully.Meanwhile, back at the Blessed
Pauline Center, we are in transition.

The community is in the midst of preparing for
departures and arrivals, [sounds like an airport.]Sean Whitty spent several days with us,
settled on a room, observed and participated in the ministry at Lantern Light
with Br. Charles. Holy Faith Sisters Nancy and Pauline joined us one evening to
welcome him.Sean hopes to be here by
late August when Bob Koppes will return to assist the volunteer community during
orientation for a new year.

We had some unexpected yet very
welcome visitors during the month:Allison Maraldo and Aaron Cook were in from Houston and picked up a bike
she left during Mardi Gras.On another
Saturday Caitlyn De Castro, her sister [now residing in Baton Rouge] and a
cousin stopped by for a brief visit while in NOLA for the day.

On May 19th, we had a
dinner at the Nashville Convent next to shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor
with the Ursuline Community: Sr. Mary Ann Holmes, Prioress, Carolyn Marie
Brockland, Ginger Cirone, Carla Dolce, Regina Marie Fronmuller and Donna
Hyndman.They sent us home with a key
lime pie we savored for dessert at two dinners.

On May 26, Charles and John
welcomed Sr. Maria del Rosario, SCC, Superior General of the Sisters of
Christian Charity, and Sisters Joanne, Mary Kim and another Joanne, for lunch
at 4219 Constance, the first foundation, in 1873, of Blessed Pauline von
Mallinckrodt in the United States.Sr.
Mary Kim brought dessert, a homemade apple pie with thin slices of apple and
the perfect amount of cinnamon in an exemplary crust. Sr Maria del Rosario is from the Argentine and knows Colegio Cardinal Newman in Buenos Aires where our Brothers have been missioned for many years.

At the end of the month our
second new member, Jim Mc Donald spent just two full days with us.On his last evening we were joined by three
Ursuline Sisters, one of whom, Sr. Regina Fronmuller worked with him in
Chicago!He hopes to move to NOLA in
July.

ALUMNAE NOTES

Erika and new love: Figaro. Our Karen knows...

From Erika Enlund, [2013-14] to
Br. John this month

“I had a lovely and relaxing four
days off between the spring and summer semesters. I'm taking three courses this
summer so that I can graduate by May of 2016. I did well this semester
grades-wise but I did struggle a bit emotionally and considered not returning. .
. . However, I decided that it’s best to stick it out and that there was a
reason I felt pulled into the program so that has to count for something.

I can only picture the look, over
the top of your glasses, ending in a smirk. Say hi to Karen for me!”

Friday, March 20, 2015

We are in transition in New Orleans;
Province Leadership is exploring new ideas for the volunteer program and has appointed
two new members to the community.Two
current members have accepted different assignments to fill other needs of the
Province.

The changes were published in an
e-mail sent to the Brothers on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day!Br.
Charles Avendano will continue here.Two
new community members are replacing Br. Bob and Br. John.[Br. Bob also is confident that there will be
volunteers in residence next year.Having volunteers and sharing life and mission with them is the reason
for the community.]

Joining Charles will be Br. James
Raphael McDonald, who grew up in Butte, Montana and now resides in Chicago,
Illinois.He was a science teacher
before becoming Vocation Promoter for the Province.He also serves as Chair of the Office of the
Edmund Rice Network which includes our mission efforts, the volunteer program
and vocation promotion.He is an
intrepid traveler, which his responsibility demands and rumor has it that he is
interested in golf, too!

The community will also include
Br. F. Séan Whitty, a Canadian now living in New Rochelle, NY.Séan has served as a teacher and
administrator in Canada and has experience in our community at Mt. Sion in
Waterford, Ireland.A gifted cook and
horticulturalist, he is a wonderful host.He serves as Chair of the Province Office of Life and Renewal,
coordinating retreat programs for the Brothers among other duties.He brings experience and appreciation of the
international brotherhood we share.

Caitlyn, Vincent and Kyle planted these Carolina jasmine our second year here.

A separate position of Director
of Recruitment for our Volunteer Programs, who will be a lay person somewhat
closer in age to those recruited, is being developed by the Province Leadership
Team. Br. Sean Moffett, a Province Councillor is leading the re-founding of the program and brings great energy, determination and vision to the effort.

Bob
Koppes, having completed five years here, is investigating ministry on the West
Coast of Florida where we have a community at Bonita Springs.John Casey, having completed eight years in
New Orleans, is going to East Harlem to help explore ministerial
opportunities for Brothers in Harlem where the Brothers served for over 100
years before withdrawing in 2010 with the closing of Rice High School.

The
changes take effect during the summer—still plenty of time for gumbo and shrimp
boils!

K of C room redone by Glenn Lirette--fancy but great for a small meeting

REFLECTION

“A prayer that does not lead you to practical
action for your brother: the poor, the sick, those in need of help, a brother
in difficulty, is a sterile and incomplete prayer. But, in the same way . . .
When time is not set aside for dialogue with Jesus in prayer, we risk serving
ourselves and not God present in our needy brother and sister. St Benedict sums up the kind of life that indicated
for his monks in two words:ora
et labora, pray and work. It is from contemplation, from a
strong friendship with the Lord that the capacity is born in us to live and to
bring the love of God, his mercy, his tenderness, to others. And also our work
with brothers in need, our charitable works of mercy, lead us to the Lord,
because it is in the needy brother and sister that we see the Lord himself.”

Monday, March 2, 2015

The
last fling of winter is over ... The earth, the soil itself, has a
dreaming quality about it. It is warm now to the touch; it has come
alive; it hides secrets that in a moment, in a little while, it will tell.”
- Donald Culross Peattie

Early in February, Bob and John
met with a number of folks involved with volunteer programs at Duchense
House.Sr. Anne Byrne, RSCJ and the
Religious of the Sacred Heart hosted the meeting.The House of Charity, representatives of the
St. Bernard Project and the Notre Dame Americorps Volunteers and others
gathered to get to know each other and to see the scope of their plans.We will meet again in April to update each
other.We are particularly interested in
folks who are open to life in community while giving service.

During the second week of
February, John visited Pope John Paul II High School for the Discovery Walk
Program.

Bacchus Sunday, the last weekend
of Mardi Gras parades, saw a goodly sized group, ladders and children in tow,
arrive for the usual Bacchus Sunday Open House, now held at the Blessed Pauline
Center.Allison Maraldo visited us over
that weekend; Molly Sherry brought ‘Hunter” along for a visit on Monday.

On the 21st of
February Archbishop Aymond and a large group of religious women, and a few men,
celebrated the Year of Consecrated Life with a Mass at the recently restored
shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. This was followed by a delicious buffet
and time to preview a brief video on religious life.Both Br. Charles and John can be seen on the
video!

While we have had unseasonably
cool weather, it is quite relative when one sees how the rest of the nation is
fairing.

Sr. Mary Lou explains a fine point to John--as usual he is amazed.

On February 28th we
hosted a gathering of religious called the “Newcomers.”We are folks who have come to NOLA since Hurricane
Katrina and we meet to pray and share experiences and then have a meal
together.This session we welcomed
several Daughters of Charity of advanced years whose convents recently closed
and who are now assigned to New Orleans.Sr. Mary Lou Specha, PBVM, a long standing friend of the Brothers’ community
shared with us news about a new venture, Hotel Hope which will provide
transitional housing for homeless single mothers with children.They are converting a convent in the
Broadmoor area with the support of the parish, Pastor and a host of donors as
well as FEMA funding.

Sr. Claire Regan, SC with Brs. Charles and Sean

Br. Sean Moffett, who is on our
Province Leadership Team, was able to join in the day.He is here on visitation, an annual
occurrence with the Brothers.Sean and
our Province Leadership Team have been discussing a renewed vision for the
Volunteer Program here in New Orleans; change is in the air.

Br. Sean Moffett and Sr. Claire and some of our 'Newcomers'

The energy of March

“With
vision there is no room to be frightened, no reason for intimidation. It's time
to march forward! Let's be confident and positive!”
- Charles R. Swindoll
[The energy of the month of march may be related to a second meaning of 'march'
as in walking, long trek, walking in a military campaign, marching in a
coordinated manner in a group.]